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M. R. James Allusions
Allusions to the work of M. R. James figure into many of the books written by John Bellairs and Brad Strickland. His ghost stories were published in a series of collections: * Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1904) * More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1911) * A Thin Ghost and Others (1919) * A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories (1925) "An Episode of Cathedral History" "An Episode of Cathedral History" is a story in A Thin Ghost and Others (1919). * During alteration on a cathedral, an altar tomb is discovered and opened that provides an exit for a trapped demon; after it has been left empty, the tomb has a metal cross attached to it inscribed with “Ibi cubavit lamia.”Wikisource: An Episode of Cathedral History ** The whistle Lewis finds while hiking with his Boy Scout troop carries the mysterious inscription "Hic Iacet Lamia" (The Whistle, the Grave, and the Ghost; 7). "The Ash-tree" "The Ash-tree" is a story in in Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1904). "Canon Alberic's Scrap-Book" "Canon Alberic's Scrapbook" is a story in Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1904)Wikipedia: Canon Alberic's Scrap-Book. * The Englishman Dennistoun find an illustration in the scrapbook once owned by the titular canonWikisource: Canon Alberic's Scrapbook. ** Lewis receives a mysterious piece of mail that contains an illustration of King Solomon and a shadowy creature distinguished only by its matted, shaggy black hair (''The Tower at the End of the World''; 28). "Casting the Runes" "An Episode of Cathedral History" is a story in More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1911)Wikipedia: Casting the Runes. * Mr. Karswell, standing in front of Saint Wulfram’s Church at Abbeville, then under extensive repair, was struck on the head and instantly killed by a stone falling from the scaffoldWikisource: Casting the Runes. ** After running afoul of Father Baart, Mr. Herman dies unexpectedly when a piece of Saint Michael's Church, then under construction, topples down and kills him (The Curse of the Blue Figurine; 18-9). * The piece of paper Mr. Dunning receives flutters around the room and tries to fly out the window. It is later determined the paper gives Dunning a period of three months to live. ** A piece of parchment seems to have a life of its own – wriggling and fluttering to break free of its constraints – and forewarns Lewis he has but just a month to live (The Tower at the End of the World; 30, 64). "Count Magnus" "Count Magnus" is a story in Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1904)Wikipedia: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_Magnus Count Magnus]. * Three padlocks seal the sarcophagus of the late Count Magnus. When Mr. Wraxall visits the tomb, one by one the padlocks appear unlocked, with the third and final one falling to the "pavement with a clash" through supernatural meansWikisource: Count Magnus. ** Lewis's ceremony to raise the dead - specifically Selenna Izard - culminates in the rattling of a chain and a "clunk on the pavement. The heart-shaped padlock had fallen off" (The House with a Clock in its Walls, 87). * The count maintained a small, hunched beast-like companion that was discovered after embarking on the Black Pilgrimage. ** The Windrow Familiar is a short, hunched figure associated with the black magic of its presumed creator, or at least master, Zebulon Windrow. From one of the long, draping sleeves you could see something that dangled like an octopus's tentacle (The Revenge of the Wizard's Ghost, 67). "The Haunted Dolls' House" "The Haunted Dolls' House" is a story in A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories (1925). * Mr. Dillet comes across a larger than life dollhouse and, after touching its contents, has a vision of revenge enacted out within the dollhouseWikiLivres: The Haunted Dolls' House. ** Professor Childermass’s father builds a clock with a special doll-house shadow box, memorializing the strange death of his brother, Lucius. After the professor accidentally touches a miniature skull in the display, Johnny has a vision of how Lucius met his death (The Spell of the Sorcerer's Skull, 13-4, 18). "Mr Humphreys and his Inheritance" "Mr Humphreys and his Inheritance" is a story in More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1911). * Stone blocks on the floor of the Temple of Friendship have letters carved into them and are later found to be number, thereby spelling out the phrase "Penetrans ad interiora mortis". ** The charming phrase appears in the haunted salt caves on the Windrow estate (The Revenge of the Wizard's Ghost, 81). * Mr. Humphreys finds trouble at the enter of the maze he recently inheritedWikipedia: Mr Humphreys and His Inheritance. ** Lewis and Bertie explore the grounds of Barnavelt Manor and get lost in its eerie hedge maze, eventually finding the center and the secret hidden within (The Vengeance of the Witch-Finder, 26, 44). "Lost Hearts" "Lost Hearts" is a story in Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1904)Wikipedia: Lost Hearts. * Stephen Elliott, a young orphan boy, is sent to stay with his much older cousin, Mr Abney, at a remote country mansion. ** There is a passing similarity to the orphaned Lewis coming to live with his eccentric uncle, Jonathan (though Jonathan turns out nothing like Stephen's relation) (The House with a Clock in its Walls, 4-6). 'Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad' 'Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad' is a story in Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1904)Wikipedia: 'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad' * The reverent that invades the spare bed of Parkins’s hotel room fashions itself a body out of the sheets. ** The Flimsies of Flapping Forest are reminiscent of old linen napkins and "slip into open windows at night and try to smother sleeping people" (The Pedant and the Shuffly, 14-5). * After blowing the whistle he found buried near an ancient temple, Parkins is visited in the night by an apparition that lurches around his bedroom. ** Prospero is frightened by an old cloak in his basement that comes to life and "with empty flapping arms it floated across the cellar floor, swaying in a sickening nightmare rhythm" (The Face in the Frost, 7). * Parkins finds a whistle "shaped very much after the manner of the modern dog-whistle" that he finds "full of a fine, caked-up sand or earth, which would not yield to knocking, but must be loosened with a knife." This whistle has an inscription and when blown starts a "tremendous gust" of wind, later calling forth an apparition. ** Lewis finds a strange whistle whilst hiking in the woods near New Zebedee (The Whistle, the Grave, and the Ghost; 7). "Rats" "Rats" is a story published in 1929. * A scarecrow with "bare bony feet" propped up on a bed appearsWikiLivres: Rats. ** Johnny finds a scarecrow (with a skeletal foot) seated in an empty passenger cabin during his ferryboat ride to Vinalhaven, Maine (The Spell of the Sorcerer's Skull). "The Tractate Middoth" "The Tractate Middoth" is a story in More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1911)Wikipedia: The Tractate Middoth. * A strange figure – described as having a bald head and being covered in cobwebs – appears to John Eldred in the library. Later, a story is told of a “horrid old man” whose burial took place in a brick room in an underground field near the man’s houseWikisource: The Tractate Middoth. ** The spectral remnant of Willis Nightwood – bald, cobwebbed face – is spotted around Hoosac. A lawyer by trade, Nightwood’s cremated remains were sealed in specially sealed brick underground room (''The Lamp from the Warlock's Tomb''). "The Treasure of Abbot Thomas" "The Treasure of Abbot Thomas" is a story in Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1904)Wikipedia: The Treasure of Abbot Thomas. * Stained glass windows at Germany's Steinfeld Abbey of three Biblical figures – Job Patriarcha, Johannes Evangelista, and Zacharias Propheta – are prominent clues. Each figure holds a book or scroll; the scroll in Job's hand was inscribed: “Auro est locus in quo absconditur” (for “conflatur”)Wikisource: The Treasure of Abbot Thomas. ** Johnny comes across a similar stained glass, though displaying the agents of evil that he is to encounter (The Revenge of the Wizard's Ghost). ** In the stained glass Johnny sees, Zebulon Windrow holds a scroll, his reading “Zebulon Patriarcha” (The Revenge of the Wizard's Ghost, 4). ** The Latin phrase (“there is a place for gold where it is hidden”) as a clue to reach the Autarch’s other-worldly dimension (The Mansion in the Mist, 20-1). * The title of the story bears a resemblance to Bellairs's book, The Treasure of Alpheus Winterborn. "Wailing Well" "Wailing Well" is a story published in 1928. * Two members of a troop of Scouts come across a strange section of land near their campWikiLivres: Wailing Well. ** The scene is similar to the way Johnny and Fergie come across the Staunton Harold estate whilst away at Boy Scout camp (The Mummy, the Will, and the Crypt). Reference James